The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction against Jerry D. Lard (center), who was sentenced to death for fatally shooting a police officer during a traffic stop in northeast Arkansas. (ASSOCIATED PRESS / The Jonesboro Sun, Saundra Sovick, File)

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the murder conviction for a man sentenced to death for fatally shooting a police officer during a traffic stop in northeast Arkansas.

The court denied a request for a new trial and upheld the death sentence for Jerry Lard, who was convicted in the 2011 shooting death of Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt. The court rejected several of Lard's arguments, including his objection to prosecutors showing jurors dash-cam video footage of the shooting.

"Because the incident unfolded so quickly, showing the events as they transpired from different perspectives and at slowed speeds allowed the actions of all involved to be clarified and be placed in context," the court's opinion said. "Although Lard did not deny committing the offenses, this court has repeatedly held that a defendant cannot prevent the admission of evidence simply by conceding to the facts of the crime."

The video was released to the public after Lard's trial in 2012. It shows Lard sitting in the back of a vehicle that Schmidt pulled over in April 2011 because a license plate check showed it might not have insurance. About a minute later, as Schmidt opened the back passenger door, a hand can be seen reaching out and firing at the officer's face.

Lard bolts from the car and continues firing at Schmidt and another officer who was at the scene.

Lard's defense attorneys acknowledged their client fatally shot Schmidt but argued at trial that Lard suffered from a mental disease or defect. Katherine Streett, an attorney representing Lard, declined to comment Thursday on the court's ruling.

Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington said in a statement he was pleased with the court's ruling.

"However, I feel that the court missed an opportunity to clarify the law that would allow a victim's family the right to be present and remain in the courtroom during a capital murder trial, even if they will be testifying as a witness in the sentencing phase," Ellington said.

In a dissenting opinion, two justices argued that Lard should have been given a new sentencing hearing. They argued that testimony from two jailers as well as a photograph of a "Hell Bound" tattoo on Lard's back should not have been allowed during the trial.

"There is certainly overwhelming evidence of appellant's guilt in the instant case, and I cannot say that the verdict of guilt would have been different had the circuit court properly exercised its discretion and excluded the evidence," Justice Donald L. Corbin wrote in the dissenting opinion, along with Chief Justice Jim Hannah. "But, what I am concerned about in the instant case is the sentence of death imposed by a jury that was exposed to inadmissible and prejudicial evidence."